| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"me" |
| Date: |
26 Mar 2005 06:25:12 PM |
| Object: |
What if this is true? (Terri) |
A Visit With Terri Schiavo
Attorney Barbara Weller
This past Christmas Eve day, 2004, I went to visit Terri Schiavo with her parents, Bob
and Mary Schindler, her sister, her niece, and Attorney David Gibbs III. The visit took
place at the Woodside Hospice for about 45 minutes just before noon.
When I knew I was going to visit Terri with her parents, I had no idea what to expect. I
was prepared for the possibility that the Schindlers love their daughter and sister so
much that they might imagine behaviors by Terri that aren't actually evident to others.
The media and Mr. Schiavo clearly give the impression that Terri is in a coma or
comatose state and engages only in non-purposeful and reflexive movements and
responses. I am a mother and a grandmother, as well as one of the Schindlers'
attorneys, and I could understand how parents might imagine behavior and purposeful
activity that is not really there. I was prepared to be as objective as I could be during
this visit and not to be disappointed at anything I saw or experienced.
I was truly surprised at what I saw from the moment we entered the little room where
Terri is confined. The room is a little wider than the width of two single beds and about
as long as the average bedroom, with plenty of room for us to stand at the foot of her
bed. Terri is on the first floor and there is a lovely view to the outside grounds of the
facility. The room is entered by a short hallway, however, and there is no way for Terri
to see out into the hallway or for anyone in the hallway to observe Terri.
From the moment we entered the room, my impression was that Terri was very
purposeful and interactive and she seemed very curious about the presence of obvious
strangers in her room. Terri was not in bed, but was in her chair, which has a lounge
chair appearance and elevates her head at about a 30-degree angle. She was dressed
and washed, her hair combed, and she was covered with a holiday blanket. There
were no tubes of any kind attached to her body. She was completely free of any
restraints that would have indicated any type of artificial life support. Not even her
feeding tube was attached and functioning when we entered, as she is not fed 24
hours a day.
The thing that surprised me the most about Terri as I took my turn to greet her by the
side of her chair was how beautiful she is. I would have expected to see someone with
a sallow and gray complexion and a sick looking countenance. Instead, I saw a very
pretty woman with a peaches and cream complexion and a lovely smile, which she
even politely extended to me as I introduced myself to her. I was amazed that someone
who had not been outside for so many years and who received such minimal health
care could look so beautiful. She appeared to have an inner light radiating from her
face. I was truly taken aback by her beauty, particularly under the adverse
circumstances in which she has found herself for so many years.
Terri's parents, sister, and niece went immediately to greet Terri when we entered the
room and stood in turn directly beside her head, stroking her face, kissing her and
talking quietly with her. When she heard their voices, and particularly her mother's
voice, Terri instantly turned her head towards them and smiled. Terri established eye
contact with her family, particularly with her mother, who spent the most time with her
during our visit. It was obvious that she recognized the voices in the room with the
exception of one. Although her mother was talking to her at the time, she obviously had
heard a new voice and exhibited a curious demeanor. Attorney Gibbs was having a
conversation near the door with Terri's sister. His voice is very deep and resonant and
Terri obviously picked it up. Her eyes widened as if to say, "What's that new sound I
hear?" She scanned the room with her eyes, even turning her head in his direction,
until she found Attorney Gibbs and the location of the new voice and her eyes rested
momentarily in his direction. She then returned to interacting with her mother.
When her mother was close to her, Terri's whole face lit up. She smiled. She looked
directly at her mother and she made all sorts of happy sounds. When her mother talked
to her, Terri was quiet and obviously listening. When she stopped, Terri started
vocalizing. The vocalizations seemed to be a pattern, not merely random or reflexive at
all. There is definitely a pattern of Terri having a conversation with her mother as best
she can manage. Initially, she used the vocalization of "uh'uh" but without seeming to
mean it as a way of saying "no", just as a repeated speech pattern. She then began to
make purposeful grunts in response to her mother's conversation. She made the same
sorts of sound with her father and sister, but not to the same extent or as delightedly as
with her mother. She made no verbal response to her niece or to Attorney Gibbs and
myself, but she did appear to pay attention to our words to her.
The whole experience was rather moving. Terri definitely has a personality. Her whole
demeanor definitely changes when her mother speaks with her. She lights up and
appears to be delighted at the interaction. She has an entirely different reaction to her
father who jokes with her and has several standing jokes that he uses when he enters
and exits her presence. She appears to merely "tolerate" her father, as a child does
when she says "stop" but really means, "this is fun." When her father greets her, he
always does the same thing. He says, "here comes the hug" and hugs her. He then
says, "you know what's coming next---the kiss." Her father has a scratchy mustache
and both times when he went through this little joke routine with her, she laughed in a
way she did not do with anyone else. When her father is ready to plant the kiss on her
cheek, she immediately makes a face her family calls the "lemon face." She puckers
her lips, screws up her whole face, and turns away from him, as if making ready for the
scratchy assault on her cheek that she knows is coming. She did the exact same thing
both times that her father initiated this little routine joke between the two of them.
The interactions with her family and our appearance in her room appeared to require
some effort and exertion from Terri. From time to time, she would close her eyes as if to
rest. This happened primarily when no one was paying particular attention to her, but
we were talking among ourselves. After a few minutes or when one of the visitors
approached her and started to talk directly to her again, Terri would open her eyes and
begin her grunting sounds again in response to their conversations. Although I
approached her, leaned close and stroked her arms and spoke to her, she did not
verbally respond to me.
Terri's hands are curled up around little soft cylinders that help her not to injure herself. I
understand that these contractures are likely very painful, although there was a time
when Terri was receiving simple motion therapy when her hands and arms relaxed and
were no longer as constricted. When the therapy was discontinued by order of her
guardian and the court, the contractures returned. These contractures would
apparently be avoidable if Terri were given the simple range of motion therapy she
previously received. It is very sad to observe firsthand these conditions that make her
life more difficult, but that would be correctable with little effort.
When we were preparing to leave, the interactions with Terri changed. First, she went
through the joke routine with her father and the "lemon face." When her niece said
goodbye to her, Terri did not react. Nor did she react to me or to Attorney Gibbs when
we said our goodbyes to her. When her sister went to her to say goodbye, Terri's
verbalizations changed dramatically. Instead of the happy grunting and "uh uh" sounds
she had been making throughout the visit, her verbalizations at these goodbyes
changed to a very low and different sound that appeared to come from deep in her
throat and was almost like a growl. She first made the sound when her sister said
goodbye and then, amazingly to me, she made exactly the same sound when her
mother said goodbye to her. It seemed Terri was visibly upset that they were leaving.
She almost appeared to be trying to cling to them, although this impression came only
from her changed facial expression and sounds, since her hands cannot move. It
appeared like she did not want to be alone and knew they were leaving. It was
definitely apparent in the short time I was there that her emotions changed-it was
apparent when she was happy and enjoying herself, when she was amused, when she
was resting from her exertion to communicate, and when she was sad at her guests
leaving. It was readily apparent and surprising that her mood changed so often in a
short 45-minute visit.
I was pleasantly surprised to observe Terri's purposeful and varied behaviors with the
various members of her family and with Attorney Gibbs and myself. I never imagined
Terri would be so active, curious, and purposeful. She watched people intently,
obviously was attempting to communicate with each one in various ways and with
various facial expressions and sounds. She was definitely not in a coma, not even
close. This visit certainly shed more light for me on why the Schindlers are fighting so
hard to protect her, to get her medical care and rehabilitative assistance, and to spend
all they have to protect her life.
I realize that Terri has good days and bad days. There are obviously days when she
does not interact with her family, as they had previously told us. There are also
apparently days when Terri is even more interactive and responsive to them than she
was on the day I visited. Since this visit I am more convinced than ever that the
Schindlers are not just parents who refuse to let go of their daughter. There really is a
lot going on with their daughter and potentially, it seemed obvious to me, Terri could
improve even more with appropriate care and 24 hour a day love that can only come
from a dedicated family. As I watched her, my foremost thought was that on the next
day, Christmas, Terri should not have been confined to her small room in a hospice
center, nice as that room was, but that she should have been gathered around the
Christmas dinner table enjoying the holiday with her family.
.
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| User: "Clockmeister" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 01:31:01 AM |
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"me" <here@now.com> wrote in message
news:4245a7a2$0$28528$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
A Visit With Terri Schiavo
Attorney Barbara Weller
<snip> nonsense
She can't possibly function in the way described anymore then she could if
she had her brain removed entirely just leaving the brain stem because that
is all she has left.
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| User: "Nivlem" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
26 Mar 2005 07:35:38 PM |
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On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:25:12 +0000, "me" <here@now.com>
wrote:
***** snipped.
Ah, but it isn't true. Wishful thinking does not equate to
reality. It flies in the face of all the medical evidence,
and the findings of the court. Do you think everyone
involved in the litigation was comletely stupid? That even
the USSC, who refused to review the case are all morons?
Well, maybe Clarence Thomas, but I don't think the rest of
them are.
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| User: "John Baker" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 11:49:05 AM |
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On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:25:12 +0000, "me" <here@now.com> wrote:
<Garbage snipped>
What if I have a 20 inch *****?
Well, I don't. It isn't true. And neither is the horseshit you posted.
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| User: "AngryJohn" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 04:59:00 AM |
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On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:25:12 +0000, "me" <here@now.com> wrote:
{crap removed}
What if the christians all screaming were of a mind to remove all
human assistance and let god decide her fate?
Maybe the christian faith is not as strong as they profess?
------------------------------
aa#2106
Remove Belief to reply
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| User: "Michelle Malkin" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 06:07:07 AM |
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"AngryJohn" <AngryJohn@AngryJohnBelief.net> wrote in message
news:p9fc415stq51jgevg3afe2qefvktlc5g97@4ax.com...
On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:25:12 +0000, "me" <here@now.com> wrote:
{crap removed}
What if the christians all screaming were of a mind to remove all
human assistance and let god decide her fate?
Maybe the christian faith is not as strong as they profess?
When was it ever?
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| User: "AngryJohn" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 06:44:20 AM |
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On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 01:07:07 -0500, "Michelle Malkin"
<hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:
"AngryJohn" <AngryJohn@AngryJohnBelief.net> wrote in message
news:p9fc415stq51jgevg3afe2qefvktlc5g97@4ax.com...
On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:25:12 +0000, "me" <here@now.com> wrote:
{crap removed}
What if the christians all screaming were of a mind to remove all
human assistance and let god decide her fate?
Maybe the christian faith is not as strong as they profess?
When was it ever?
Never, but then the evidence of hospitals and the christians residing
within is more than enough evidence of that.
------------------------------
aa#2106
Remove Belief to reply
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| User: "John Baker" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 11:50:41 AM |
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On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 01:07:07 -0500, "Michelle Malkin"
<hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:
"AngryJohn" <AngryJohn@AngryJohnBelief.net> wrote in message
news:p9fc415stq51jgevg3afe2qefvktlc5g97@4ax.com...
On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:25:12 +0000, "me" <here@now.com> wrote:
{crap removed}
What if the christians all screaming were of a mind to remove all
human assistance and let god decide her fate?
Maybe the christian faith is not as strong as they profess?
When was it ever?
Never. If their faith was as strong as they claim, they wouldn't feel
the need to use the power of the law to enforce it.
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| User: "georgann" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 03:09:01 PM |
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AngryJohn wrote:
What if the christians all screaming were of a mind to remove all human
assistance and let god decide her fate?
georgann (forgiven since 33 AD) wrote:
I don't think you really wanted to go there. If you removed all human
"assistance" and let God decide regarding all pregnancies, you completely
eliminate abortion as an industry.
--
(`'·.¸(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ¸.·'´)¸.·'´)¸.·'´)
«´¨`·.¸¸ ¸¸.·´¨ `»
"As Benjamin Franklin left the State House in Philadelphia
on the closing day of the Constitutional Convention, a woman
asked him what kind of government the statesmen had given America.
Franklin replied: 'A republic, Madame, if you can keep it.'
http://www.boingboing.net/images/Purple-USA.jpg
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/
(¸.·'´(¸.·'´(¸.·'´ `'·.¸)`'·.¸)`'·.¸)
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| User: "Robibnikoff" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 03:36:59 PM |
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"georgann" <chenault@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:BE6C36BC.577F1%chenault@mindspring.com...
AngryJohn wrote:
What if the christians all screaming were of a mind to remove all human
assistance and let god decide her fate?
georgann (forgiven since 33 AD) wrote:
I don't think you really wanted to go there. If you removed all human
"assistance" and let God decide regarding all pregnancies, you completely
eliminate abortion as an industry.
So, you're saying that your god is the biggest abortionist out there?
I'll buy that. He just took one of my SILs potential pregnancies last week.
--
---------
Robyn
Resident Witchypoo
#1557
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| User: "AngryJohn" |
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| Title: Re: What if this is true? (Terri) |
27 Mar 2005 05:25:30 PM |
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On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 10:36:59 -0500, "Robibnikoff"
<witchypoo@broomstick.com> wrote:
"georgann" <chenault@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:BE6C36BC.577F1%chenault@mindspring.com...
AngryJohn wrote:
What if the christians all screaming were of a mind to remove all human
assistance and let god decide her fate?
georgann (forgiven since 33 AD) wrote:
I don't think you really wanted to go there. If you removed all human
"assistance" and let God decide regarding all pregnancies, you completely
eliminate abortion as an industry.
Your "god" is incapable of ensuring the majority of conceptions even
survive. No wonder your type lacks faith that he will keep this woman
alive.
So, you're saying that your god is the biggest abortionist out there?
Exactly.
I'll buy that. He just took one of my SILs potential pregnancies last week.
------------------------------
aa#2106
Remove Belief to reply
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